J. R. R. Tolkien on Homes and Havens

Abstract

J. R. R. Tolkien on Homes and Havens Christopher Toner (bio) Key Words Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, Hobbit, Homes, Havens, Roger Scruton remarks that a recurrent theme in literature is that of “the journey from the home we start from, to the home we start.”1 While J. R. R. Tolkien is known for writing adventure stories, I wish to argue that his books are also stories of home, just as much (or almost as much) as the novels of, say, Jane Austen. The sub-title of The Hobbit (and the title of Bilbo’s memoirs2) is There and Back Again: the beginning and end of his journey are his home, Bag-End. The same is true of The Lord of the Rings, in which the last words belong to Samwise, who, having definitely been “there,” concludes, “I’m back.” The hobbits leave the Shire, the home they start from, as grown children, and return as men;3 they return to the home they start from, but now ready to start it, to appreciate it properly, to scour it, shape it, to make it their home, and to make it be as a home should. And Tolkien has a great deal to tell us about how a home should be. In what follows, I will indicate how important home is in Tolkien’s work, and show that, while he allows for (insists upon) a great diversity in terms of what makes for a good home, he thinks of it as always comprising the elements of security, comfort, and culture. Finally, I will offer some brief reflections on how his ideas are relevant to our current political situation. [End Page 126] I. Homelessness While most of us are born into a home of some sort, Tolkien thinks there is a deep sense in which we all begin homeless. In The Silmaril-lion, both elves and humans first appear as wanderers. The elves, awakening and seeing first the stars and hearing first the sound of flowing water, “walked the Earth in wonder; and they began to make speech and give names to all things they perceived.”4 And although Tolkien alludes to their “first home” in the east, they lived in fear there, hunted by the servants of Morgoth, and they were called by the Valar to travel to the west and over the sea. Many answered the call, and settled in the region of Valinor that came to be called Eldamar—Elvenhome. Most of The Silmarillion follows the history of the Noldor, who defy the Valar and return to Middle Earth in pursuit of the Silmarils stolen by Morgoth. This act of disobedience, compounded by the Kinslaying, meant that “the Blessed Realm was shut against the Noldor” (S, 102), who are thus frequently referred to as “exiles,” once again homeless. As for humans, “At the first rising of the Sun the Younger Children of Ilúvatar awoke . . . but the Sun first arose in the West, and the opening eyes of Men were turned toward it, and their feet as they wandered over the Earth for the most part strayed that way” (S, 103). In The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings the themes of exile and yearning for home are explored in the context of the lives of individuals. In both stories the main protagonists are swept by world events from their homes. Although Bilbo’s latent—Tookish—spirit of adventure had been stirred by the tales of the dwarves, just days into the journey east he tells himself, “‘I wish I was at home in my nice hole by the fire, with the kettle just beginning to sing.’ It was not the last time he wished that.”5 And after the Battle of Five Armies, his wish to be at home is expressed more seriously: “He was now weary of his adventure. He was aching in his bones for the homeward journey” (H, 259). When Frodo realizes that he must leave the Shire, he tells Gandalf, “I feel very small, and very uprooted, and well—desperate” (LOTR, 62). On the journey from Bree to Rivendell, Frodo and his companions [End Page 127] “stood for a...